That Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world stands as a key concept in Christianity. During the season of Lent, we begin the period of preparation for celebrating the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus at Easter. At this time, we focus on sacrifice …

In the Gospel According to Mark 1:21 (NABRE), we see that the synagogue was one of the major places where Jesus engaged in his public ministry. The role of these synagogues, especially at the time of Jesus when the Temple still was standing, easily can be overlooked. The word synagogue comes from the Greek …

In book of Deuteronomy 18:15–19 (NABRE), Moses tells the people that he will raise up a prophet “like him” to speak to them because the people have requested that they do not want to hear the voice of the LORD directly. We often think of a prophet primarily as one …

In the First Letter to the Corinthians 6:12–20 (NABRE), Paul warns the Corinthians against a particular sin of the body translated in the Mass readings as immorality. This translation is a bit confusing as we tend to use the word immorality to refer to any sinful act rather than to …

Both the Revised Standard Version Catholic Editions (RSVCE) and the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE) translations of the First Book of Samuel 13:14 use a rather interesting phrase to describe David as a “man after [God’s] own heart.” This phrase easily can cause no small amount of confusion, most …

In the First Letter to the Thessalonians, Paul describes what the end times will look like and how the last days will come upon many as a surprise—while faithful Christians will be ready. In setting up this idea, Paul uses an interesting phrase. In the First Letter to the Thessalonians …

In the Gospel According to Matthew 13:24–53 (NABRE), Jesus tells five parables about the kingdom of heaven, a topic of constant discussion in the Gospels. Indeed, it’s talked about frequently enough that it’s easy to lose sight of what it means. There are two concepts here, each worth developing for …

In the book of Exodus, God outlines how he wants his people to treat others based on how he has treated them. The book of Exodus 22:26 (NABRE) concludes with the statement “If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate.” In this translation, it’s …

In the twenty-second chapter in the Gospel According to Matthew (NABRE), the Pharisees devise for Jesus what they believe to be a no-win scenario. Their aim is to either force Jesus to speak openly against Roman rule, thereby making him a target to the Romans, or to force him to …

In the Letter to the Philippians 4:12 (NABRE), Paul writes about living in “humble circumstances.” Humility has been described as among the most important Christian virtues, and it is indeed worth cultivating. In this passage from the Letter to the Philippians, the word translated as “humble circumstances” is the verb ταπεινόω (tapeinoo), which means …